


Lullaby

by Liza1031



Series: Harringrove One-Shots [15]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Billy’s a good dad, Comfort, Divorce, Domestic Fluff, Harrington-Hargrove Child, Hurt, Loving Comfort, M/M, Parents Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington, Past Harringrove, Past Mpreg, Protective Billy Hargrove, Soft Billy Hargrove, minor child abuse, single parent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 23:07:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27593884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Liza1031/pseuds/Liza1031
Summary: Steve and Billy share a daughter together and recently got divorced, but Steve’s current boyfriend secretly makes it known how much he dislikes her.One-Shot inspired by the song Lullaby from the band One Republic.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington, Steve Harrington/Original Male Character
Series: Harringrove One-Shots [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1987054
Kudos: 46





	Lullaby

Billy was on his way over to Steve’s house to pick up their daughter, Ava, since it was his weekend to have her. 

This has been the routine since they first filed for divorce nearly a year ago. Billy and Steve came to a mutual decision to get a divorce because they both simply fell out of love after being married for almost ten years. Their five year old was very confused at the time about why her mommy and daddy weren’t living together anymore. She was sad and didn’t understand how come they couldn’t just love each other again. It killed both Billy and Steve seeing their daughter so upset. 

Now, Steve has a live-in boyfriend and Billy hates his guts. He wanted to be happy that his ex-husband found love again, granted it wasn’t with him, but he wanted to show Steve he was happy for him. However, Steve’s boyfriend was not Billy’s cup of tea. There was something about him that just didn’t sit well with Billy, plus when their daughter is there he always fears the worst will happen since she stays with Steve most of the time. 

Billy pulls up to their old house, now Steve’s house, and parks his Camaro beside the silver Lexus. He huffs as he gets out of this car and walks up the path to the front door. He knocks and a few seconds later the door is open by none other than the shitbag himself, Mark. 

“Billy, hi! Come on in! Ava’s just getting her bag together.” Billy could tell Mark was faking his kindness but just went with it anyway, not wanting to start any trouble. 

Billy enters the house and stands in the foyer with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jean jacket, waiting for Ava so he could get the hell out of there. 

Steve came around the corner, wiping his hand on a dish rag that was hanging over his shoulder, and smiled at his ex. “Hey Billy. Ava’s so excited about staying with you this weekend. I heard a Disney movie marathon was in the works?” 

“Yeah. She begged me last weekend if we could do it so I promised her we would.” 

“She’s going to love that. I’m sure she-” 

“Daddy!” The three men all looked up and saw the young girl, wide eyed, running down the stairs. She jumped into Billy’s arms and dropped her bag on the floor. “Hi daddy!” 

“Hey baby.” He says and kisses her cheek, while squeezing her lightly. “Were you good for mommy and Mark this week?” 

“Uh-huh.” She nods and looks over at her mommy with a smile on her face. “Right, mommy?” 

“She’s always good.” Steve says and pinches her cheek. “I’ll see you Sunday night okay? Be good for daddy.” 

“I will, mommy!” 

“Okay. Do you have everything, Aves?” 

Ava nods again and Steve hands the bag to Billy, slipping a quick bye to him then says bye to their daughter before going back to whatever he was doing. Mark opens the door for them and Billy gets by without saying thank you, just making his way to his car with Ava on his hip. 

Billy took his daughter out for some pizza at her favorite place then they got some frozen yogurt before returning home for the night. 

They decided to start their movie marathon that night with Mulan but Ava knocked out just twenty minutes in. Billy turned the movie off and carried her to her room, tucking her into bed since she had already changed into her pjs by herself because she’s a “big girl” and didn’t need her daddy’s help. 

That night, Billy woke up to screaming coming from down the hall. He kicked off his blankets and ran to Ava’s room seeing her flailing on the bed, gripping her sheets for dear life. 

“Ava, baby.” Billy reached out to try and wake up. “Ava, wake up. Daddy’s here. Ava.” 

“No!...Stop it!...No!...Hurting me!...STOP!” 

“Ava!” Billy shouts and her eyes fly open seeing the dark outline of her father hovering over her. “Ava, sweetheart it’s daddy.” He tells her.

Ava’s grip on the sheets loosened and she flung herself forward into Billy’s arms, crying into his shoulder, completely terrified. 

“Shh, it’s okay baby. You were having a nightmare weren’t you?” 

She nods against his shoulder and keeps herself close to her father, knowing he’d protect her from everything. 

“It’s okay baby. Daddy’s not gonna let anything happen to you, alright?” She nods again and he runs his fingers through her messy hair feeling her heart beat start to slow from its rapid pace. “Do you wanna tell me about it?” She shakes her head and Billy leaves it at that. “Do you wanna come lay with daddy for the rest of the night?” He asks. 

“Yes.” She whimpers and Billy nods, pressing a soft kiss to the top of her head.

Billy carries her over to his bedroom and settles her on the bed beside him. He pulls the covers over them and brings his arm around his daughter, cuddling her close to his chest as the two fall back asleep. 

**-Next Morning-**

Billy wakes up before Ava and groans as his eyes adjust to the brightness in his bedroom. Even with the dark curtains, light was still let in. He rubs his face and looks over at Ava who was still sound asleep beside him, curled up against one of the body pillows he has. 

As he’s staring at her, he notices that her shirt was raised and her back was displayed, showing all the marks she had there. 

He had to blink a few times, making sure he wasn’t just seeing blotches, and brought a shaky hand to her back seeing the bruised hand prints, along with some other small bruises that were brownish yellow.

“Oh my god.” He quietly gasps as tears fill his eyes. He tries to stay quiet so he didn’t wake his daughter but he wanted to know when and why that asshole touched his baby.

When Ava wakes up, she turns around and faces her father with a smile on her face. 

“Morning, sweetheart.” Billy says and moves her hair away from her face. 

“G’mornin’ daddy.” Her little voice was enough to tug at Billy’s heartstrings, knowing she was hurting and hasn’t said anything about it. 

“Ava, daddy wants to ask you something and if you have to tell me the truth okay?” 

Ava nods, confused about what her father wanted to know but listened to him anyway. 

“Who made those marks on your back?” He asks and can see all the color drain from her face. 

Ava stays quiet and shakes her head, tears welling in her blue eyes. 

Billy reaches out and takes her hand which causes her to flinch, fearing something bad was going to happen to her. “Daddy’s not gonna hurt you or get mad at you, baby. Just tell me who did this to you.” He says softly. 

“I-It was Mark.” She whispers. 

Billy’s blood boiled hearing her say his name. He knew it. He knew that son of a bitch was evil and this shows. Billy stays calm for his daughter’s sake and continues to ask her questions.

“What does Mark do to you?” 

“H-He hits me w-when I m-m-misbehave and n-not listen to him....” She trails off as she is now crying and Billy pulls her into his arms, soothing her. “H-H-He t-tells me m-mommy do-doesn’t love me an-anymore and-and-and-”

“Okay, that’s enough baby. Shh, shh, it’s alright Ava.” Billy held his daughter’s small frame and felt a huge lump form in the back of his throat. He’s pissed and upset and wants to punch the wall, but Ava needs him and he was going to be there for her. 

Once Ava’s settled down, he brings her to the kitchen and puts a bowl of cereal in front of her so she could have her breakfast while he makes a phone call to Max.

Billy goes into the other room and calls his step-sister, asking if she has time to come watch Ava for a bit while he takes care of something. He doesn’t tell her what he needs to do because he doesn’t want her to worry, so he comes up with an excuse. Thankfully, Max didn’t have plans this morning and was on her way over.

While Ava eats her breakfast, Billy goes to change into a pair of jeans and some t-shirt. He grabs his phone, wallet, and keys then waits for Max to come so he can head out. 

By the time Max arrived, Billy said a quick goodbye to the girls and made his way out to his Camaro. He leaves within seconds, wanting to get to Steve’s house as fast as he can. 

When he pulls up to Steve’s house, he slams his car door and his leather boots pad against the gravel as he makes his way to the front porch. He starts to bang on the door, screaming and yelling for Steve, already furious and raging with anger. 

“OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR HARRINGTON!” His voice was thick, filled with rage. His fist pounded against the wood, nearly punching a hole through it. 

Steve opens the door, clearly pissed by the rude awakening and doesn’t even have time to tell Billy off as his ex pushes past him searching for the one thing he wants to kill. 

“Where is he?!” Billy asks, fists clenching at his sides. 

“Who? Billy what the fuck are you doing?” 

“WHERE! IS HE?!?” He bangs his fists down on the glass table causing it to shatter, making Steve jump at the sudden noise. 

Just then, Mark comes around the corner and Billy immediately decks him in the face. Mark has no chance to rebound and hit Billy back because he was then shoved up against the wall by his boyfriend’s ex-husband. 

Steve stood there watching in horror as Billy beat the shit out of his boyfriend. 

“Why did you do it?!” Billy spat in Mark’s face. “Why did you do it huh?!” 

“I didn’t do anything!” Mark laughs, wanting to get a rise out of Billy. 

Billy shoves him against the wall harder, staring at him with rage filled eyes wanting an answer. 

“You put your hands on my daughter! Why did you do it huh?! Think you’re all big and bad putting your hands on a little girl?!” Billy punched him again and let him fall to the ground. 

“What the hell Billy!” Steve screams and rushes to aid his boyfriend. “Why would you do that?! He did nothing wrong!” 

“Oh no?! Why don’t you tell Stevie here what you did to my daughter!” 

Steve looks down at Mark, unsure of what to do.

“Tell him! Tell him what you did to my daughter!” Billy grabs Mark’s shirt again and pulls him close to his face until they were just mere centimeters apart. “Tell him how you put your hands on her and left bruises all over her body.” 

Steve gasps and watches Billy throw Mark back down, leaving him lying on the floor all bloody and bruised. 

“Mark! Did you put your hands on my daughter?” Steve asks, hands fiddling as he too was starting to fill with anger. 

“She deserved it!” Mark finally admits, pulling himself to sit up. “She’s a fucking brat so I put her in her place. Little bitch!” Steve slapped him across the face and began to sob. He felt sick to his stomach hearing that this person he thought he loved hurt his child. 

Even though he got an answer, Billy wasn’t finished with him just yet. 

He took Mark again by the collar of his shirt and yanked him up towards him. “If you ever come around my daughter or touch her ever again I will kill you. Do you understand?” Billy asks in a low voice. Mark grins at him and gets thrusted again. “DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!” He bellows, loud enough to shake the house. 

“....Yes.” Mark swallowed and was thrown back down to the floor.. He knew he was defeated and was left to wallow in his own self-pity. 

Billy loudly sniffles and makes his way outside, satisfied with his work. 

“Billy! Wait!” Steve goes after him and grabs his wrist, but Billy pulls himself away from Steve’s grip. “Billy, I’m sorry. I had no idea.” 

“I’m not the one you need to be apologizing to.” Billy says and gets into his car without saying another word. 

Steve wipes his tears and marches back into the house. He and Mark go at it, screaming and yelling at each other. Mark was trying to make Steve take his side and understand why he did what he did but Steve wasn’t having it. 

“-C’mon babe. You know she can be annoying at times. She’s just a spoiled brat. I only did what was best.” 

“How dare you say that about my child. I told you that if you wanted to commit to being in this relationship she always comes first. Always!” Steve raises his voice at that mention. “And if  _ you  _ can’t accept that then go fuck yourself because we’re done!” Steve slams the door in his face and lets out a deep breath, wondering what the hell to even do next. What a way to start his weekend.

When Billy returns home he finds his daughter and Max coloring in her bedroom, he joins the two and hugs Ava telling her he loves her so much. 

He brings Max into the hallway and tells her how that happened and why he had to go do what he had to do. Of course Max was upset but she was glad her brother would go beyond for his daughter, it showed how much he cared for her. He was a great dad and no one was gonna tell him otherwise.

**\---**

Later that night, Billy gets Ava ready for bed and lets her sleep with him again. They were snuggling together while watching Cinderella, since they finished Mulan, and the doorbell rang.

They both look towards his bedroom door then back at each other, confused as to who was there this late at night. 

“Stay here.” Billy says to his daughter. Ava nods her head and clutches her monkey plushie close to her chest while Billy leaves the room. 

Billy approaches his front door and opens it, seeing Steve stand there. 

“What do you want?” Billy asks. 

“I came here to apologize.” Steve says and enters the house, uninvited. “Look, I’m sorry for coming so late but I needed to apologize for what Mark did.” 

“I told you I’m not the one you need to be apologizing to.” Billy says, while scratching the back of his head. 

“I broke up with Mark.” Steve supplies and rubs his hands together in a rather nervous manner. “I, uh, I kicked him out too.” 

“Well, good for you. Now can I please get back to my daughter?” 

“C-Can I see her?” Steve asks. “Ava, can I see her please?” 

Billy sighs and nods his head, allowing Steve to follow him down the hall where his bedroom was. He brings him to the bedroom and Steve sees his daughter in bed watching a movie. 

When she sees her mother, Ava hides under the covers and both men frown at each other. 

Billy made his way to the bed, leaving Steve standing in the doorway, and pulls on the covers. “Ava, baby, mommy’s here to see you. Can you come out from under there please?” 

The blankets slowly came down from Ava’s head and she looked at her daddy with sad eyes. 

“Mommy wants to talk to you okay? I promise he’s not mad at you, right mommy?” Billy asks, looking back at his ex.

“Right. I’m not mad at you at all, baby. I just want to talk to you, if you’d let me?” Steve asks. 

“Okay.” She answers softly and Billy smiles, kissing her forehead, then leaves the two to chat. 

Steve goes over to the bed and sits beside his daughter as she looks at him with those eyes. “Ava, mommy’s so sorry about everything that Mark did to you.” He thickly swallows as tears threaten to spill. “I had no idea he was even hurting you and I did nothing about it. I brought you into an unsafe environment and that was wrong on my part because I didn’t even realize the things he was doing to you.” Ava takes her mother’s hand and squeezes it as he continues talking. “I’m not gonna be with him anymore and he’s going to leave. But I want you to know how sorry I am that this happened and I hope you’ll forgive me.” 

“He hurt me mommy and h-he told me y-you didn’t love me an-anymore.” 

“I know he did baby, I know.” Steve’s tears stream down his cheeks hearing the hurt and sadness in his daughter’s voice. “You know I’ve always loved you and I still love you. You’re my baby girl, I could never stop loving you.” 

Ava moves and wraps her arms around Steve’s neck, hugging him. “I love you too mommy. I forgive you.” 

“Oh sweetheart.” Steve whimpers, holding her close. “I love you so much.” 

When they break their embrace, Ava sees Billy leaning against the doorway to his room. 

“Can you stay with us tonight, mommy? Please?” She asks. 

“Oh, uh…” Steve looks over at Billy and shrugs. 

“You can stay.” Billy says and Ava cheers, jumping and down. 

Billy joins his family on the bed and they all cuddle together in bed just like they used to and it honestly felt amazing do it again. 


End file.
